A Private Company Wants to Mine the Moon Within the Next Four Years

A private company has set quite the ambitious goal to send three space crafts to the Earth's closest neighbor by the beginning of the new decade.

The NY Post says that the company out of Florida known as Moon Express plans to not only bring back rocks from the surface of the Moon, but set up a research outpost. This is all part of Google’s $20 million competition that will reward the first private company to land on the moon's surface and send back footage.

The first of Moon Express's missions hopes to actually launch by the end of the year. The goal is to land a robotic vehicle on the surface. The second is set to launch in 2019 and hopes to set up an outpost where the lander will mine for minerals, according to the Post.

The third mission is set for 2020, and the goal is to land a craft that will dig for rocks and then bring them back Earth.